Structural Violence

The term refers to any human constraint on human potential due to economic and
political structures (John Galtung, 1969). Unequal access to resources; to political power;
to education; to health care; or to legal standing are forms of structural violence. In short,
people suffering from structural violence are not being able to meet their basic needs and
experience basic human rights.
Structural violence is distinct from the traditional concept of direct, personal
violence (e.g. confrontation between armies or a wife killing her husband). However,
structural violence may very well be the underlying reason behind these outbursts of
direct and physical violence. An insurgent movement may, for example, gather its
strength and ideology from the deprivation and denial of equal opportunities experienced
by its constituency. A woman might be unable to handle the continued social
discrimination and culturally condoned abuse by her husband in a non-violent way. These,
in turn, are forms of structural violence.
Galtungs wide definition of violence is that it is an avoidable impairment of
fundamental human needs or, to put it in more general terms, the impairment of human
life, which lowers the actual degree to which someone is able to meet their needs below
that which would otherwise be possible. His example to explain the key terms avoidable
and impairment is that of a patient dying from tuberculosis in the 18 th century (which
may not have been avoidable at that time) and someone dying from tuberculosis today. In
todays world of medical advances, the tuberculosis fatality would indeed be a victim of
structural violence, since his death would have been avoidable and constitutes an
impairment of his fundamental human needs (adequate access to health care).
Unfortunately, even those who are victims of structural violence often do not see
the systematic ways in which their plight is choreographed by unequal and unfair
distribution of societys resources. Because they are longstanding, structural inequities
usually seem ordinary, the way things are and always have been.
But structural violence is also problematic in and of itself because it frequently leads
to direct violence. Those who are chronically deprived are often, for logical reasons, those
who resort to direct violence. It is not uncommon to see how widespread criminality is in
slum areas, or insurgencies rising in rural poor areas.
The people of Mindanao are confronted by issues on structural violence. Mindanao
remains marginalized politically, socially and economically. The inability of government to
address social justice issues and concerns is one of the harsh realities that the people of
Mindanao contend with. Inequality, marginalization, and corruption continue. For
fisherfolks, fishing and environmental laws are poorly implemented. Land and natural
resources, as well as capital and business, are owned and controlled by the few, such as
the landed elite, multinational and transnational corporations. This continued structural
violence in Mindanao is exemplified by the islands poverty statistics. While being resource
rich island, six out of the ten poorest provinces in the country are found in Mindanao
(Tawi-tawi, Zamboanga del Norte, Maguindanao, Surigao del Norte, Lanao del Sur and
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Misamis Occidental). The population of these provinces largely lives below poverty line
and suffers from a limited basic services. (NSCB Poverty Statistics, 2006). As in the rest of
the country, problems of

lack of employment opportunities, unemployment and

underemployment beset the labor sector of Mindanao.

Examples of structural violence include the institutionalized marginalization suffered
by indigenous peoples or visible minorities, the gender inequities endured by many
women who are not given equal pay for equal work and whose work is systematically
undervalued; social class biases that are reflected in social and educational policies that
protect privilege and do nothing to redress economic imbalances. People who suffer these
forms of structural violence are not empowered to control the conditions that have caused
their suffering. For this reason, structural violence often leads to feelings of hopelessness.
The rapid economic changes brought about by globalization and the earlier
development policies introduced resulted to massive dislocations and pauperization of the
peasantry, farmworkers, industrial laborers, service workers, fisherfolks, and the
indigenous people of Mindanao. These ended in the swelling of the urban poor population,
increasing number of street children, dislocation of indigenous people, destruction of the
remaining forest cover, pollution of the rivers and the seas, and depletion of mineral,
forest, and marine resources.
Some of the actions to counter structural violence include the work of nongovernment organizations in countering the negative effects of globalization and
strengthening social justice through actions such as advocacy for the full implementation
of land reform laws, laws protecting the rights of the indigenous peoples, the farmers,
fisherfolks, urban poor and other marginalized groups.
(This article is taken from Integrating Peace Education in Teacher Education, 2013)
Things to do.
Read the article on structural violence.
Answer the following questions in a 1 whole yellow pad paper.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

What are the two institutional structures that constraint the human potential?
What is the meaning of structural violence as used in the article?
What is the definition of violence according to Galtung?
What is the real situation of the people suffering from structural violence?
How do you distinguish structural violence from personal violence?
What are those structural violence mentioned in the article that is happening in

Mindanao?
7. Who are the sectors in Mindanao that often to be the victims of structural violence?
8. What are the effects of structural violence to the environment?
9. What are the root causes of structural violence?
10.
What can you suggest ways to address problems that lead to structural
violence?